Manager won't move Hill and Lind down in the order

DUNEDIN - It's only the first day of camp, before a bat has been swung in earnest, but Cito Gaston already has overruled himself.

Late last season, more or less thinking out loud, the Blue Jays manager had suggested he would experiment with his two top hitters - Aaron Hill and Adam Lind - and move them each one spot deeper into the batting order.

Monday, Gaston said that plan has been scrapped. Hill will bat No. 2 and Lind will hit No. 3, same as last year.

"I've thought it over and over," Gaston said. "I like to keep people comfortable. I've played this game and if you're not comfortable in where you are or what you're doing, you don't perform.

"If you're put on the field and you don't feel right about yourself, then you're more worried about that than worried about doing your job."

Gaston moved Lind briefly to the cleanup spot last season during a three-game series in June against Florida. Lind went 0-for-12 in the series, his longest 0-fer of the season.

"Hill had a great year last year and Lind had a great year," said the manager, "so why mess with them? Right now I'm looking at them hitting second and third, even though I said I was going to try (a switch) in spring training.

"If I do (the switch), then I'm messing with them. I think Hill would do it in a second but he's just going to put more pressure on himself and I want him to be himself.

"Lind doesn't like that (cleanup) spot. If you can keep a guy comfortable, keep unnecessary pressure off him, it's going to help him play better." Gaston is leaning toward hitting right fielder Jose Bautista leadoff, somewhat by default. He's short on candidates for the job and at least Bautista will take a walk.

He's also figuring on putting Vernon Wells back into the No. 4 spot in the order despite an unproductive season in that role in 2009.

"We don't want to tear down Vernon's confidence, either," Gaston said. "We want him to come back and be himself. It's all about trying to get the best out of people."

Of far greater concern is the molding of a pitching staff in year one AD: After Doc.

"I was sitting in with the pitchers this morning in their meeting," Gaston said. "I was talking to Doug (Davis, field co-ordinator for the minor-leaguers). "I said 'I wonder if we've got a couple of Docs in this room?' Sure would be nice. You never know. Maybe this is a chance for them to do that."

That's a nice thought and there is certainly plenty of potential in the Blue Jay stable of pitchers but it's likely to be a year or three away. Gaston, down deep, knows that better than anyone.

With no starting pitcher on the roster with more than 170 innings on his card in any single year, Gaston is going to have to nurse this staff along, help youngsters get experience without overworking them. That's why we can probably expect a steady shuttle plan between Toronto and the triple-A affiliate in Las Vegas.

"Because we're not quite sure about the pitching, I think the strength of this club right now has got to be the hitters," he said.

In others words, why mess around with a hitting lineup that may help make this long summer endurable?